Jesus Creed

A Surprising Delight (with an offer of a prize)

I had a riot reading Ammon Shea’s Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages. There are two parts to this book — there is the personal story of the experience of reading 8-10 hours a day, holed up in a library in NYC, consuming large quantities of espresso — he says a thermos full by noon on most days — and getting headaches from all that reading.

Then there is his deposit of words from each letter in the alphabet — so 26 chps of funny words — and his funny comments.

Both his own story and the words he finds were equally informative and entertaining. I’ll keep this book near my desk just for the fun of it. 21,730 pages, 59 million words, 137.72 pounds of paper, 2.5 million quotations, and 20 volumes — big ones, too. He did it all, and his effort is worth our reading.

Whoever comes up with the funniest sentence with two or more of the following words will win a prize.

Some of my favorite words:

Avidulous: somewhat greedy.Balter: to dance clumsily.Bayard: a person armed with the self-confidence of ignorance.Fard: to paint the face with cosmetics, so as to hide blemishes. (As in “she went out to fard.”)Gound: the gunk that collects in the corners of the eyes.Homodoxian: a person who has the same opinion as you. (A denominational trait.)Kakistocracy: government by the worst citizens.Minimifidian: a person who has the bare minimum of faith (which Calvinists begrudge of Anabaptists and Arminians).Nod-crafty: given to nodding the head with an air of great wisdom. (Surely someone will bring in the word emergent here.)Paracme: the point at which one’s prime is past.Peccability: capacity for sinning.Philodox: a person in love with his own opinion.Redeless: not knowing what to do in an emergency, and I thought of Barney Fife.Superfidel: overly credulous; believing too much (which Anabaptists and Arminians think of Calvinists).

Sympatetic: a companion one walks with, Calvinist or Anabaptist or Arminian.

A great set of words. “Fard” reminded me of how my brother used to casually comment to people about a police officer who issued a ticket to a woman because she was farding while driving her car. People always looked incredulously at the thought that farding while driving was against the law, and of course always asked how the officer could tell. The answer was “By looking at her”, which only made the dialogue get funnier. Eventually he would feign surprise and say, “Oh, did you misunderstand what I said?”

Brian, when he began he was a furniture mover in NYC. But, as I read the book it seems he was no longer doing that… I didn’t have enough facts to put it all together.
Rick, folks don’t “fard” as much these days while in the car, but they do “text.”

The poor bayard stumbled out of his balter upon noticing a beautiful woman he wanted to approach; so, wiping away the gound from his eye he stepped her direction forgetting the years that had pushed him beyond his paracme.

Ah Bill – but only a philodox would consider a community of homodoxian companions to be the ideal end toward which we balter in love. It seems to me that a kakistocracy is a government populated by homodoxians and led by an avidulous philodox.

Though we too soon approach paracme
As seen in our baltering and seeing too poorly
To perceive the gound-like logs of our peccability
Or to fard sufficiently to disguise
The ravages of time
Yet we strive, perhaps avidulously, not to succumb
To believing the bayards
who proclaim that kakistocracy is inevitable.
(poetry in honor of Tom, Rick’s brother :o)

I just read some of these comments to my wife, and she gave me the dreaded wifely eye-roll, coupled with muttering about geek-humor. I just thought you should know…
And, dear RJS, could we not make a case for baltering toward loving homodoxity from:
?Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.? Romans 12:16, NKJV.
and…
?I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.? Philippians 4:2, NKJV.

Ah, my first time blogging on the Jesus Creed website. I must admit I am a homodoxian whose temptation in this posting is the peccability of being nod-crafty inorder to be accepted as an emergent guru. But why not admit as a first time poster that I am a Fard? Lets face it, after a few postings you would begin to see my blemishes as a avidulous Bayard. So before trying to say something profound why not take the Ground out of my own eye before addressing the plank in my brother?s. I read this Jesus Creed blog daily, banter with the people in my congregation about insights I find on this web, but never blog for fear of baltering with fellow emergents. Why not get it out in the open, on this my first blog, that I am nothing but a minimifidian whose paracme as an emergent (lets face it I am 48 years old, went to Bethel Seminary, took Systematic Theology and belong to a denomination) and I am still recovering from the peccability of being a superfidel philodox? Top that off why not admit I am a Scandanavian who balters both on the dance floor and also in the techy web world? I guess my only hope for being accepted in this emergent world is that you are a sympatetic Kakistocracy before Jesus. So to you emergent blogging guru world, I feel like Barney Fife, a little redeless, wanting acceptance and the prize of best use of these words even though that may sound a little aviduluous.

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Scot McKnight is a widely-recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. He is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University (Chicago, Illinois). A popular and witty speaker, Dr. McKnight has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeared on television, and is regularly asked to speak in local churches and educational events throughout the USA and in Denmark and South Africa. Dr. McKnight obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham (1986).

Scot McKnight is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Society for New Testament Studies. He is the author of more than thirty books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others (Paraclete, 2004), which won the Christianity Today book of the year for Christian Living. Recent books include Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us (Paraclete, 2005), The Story of the Christ (Baker, 2006), Praying with the Church (Paraclete, 2006), and The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus (Paraclete, 2007). A recent book, A Community called Atonement (Abingdon, 2007), has been nominated for the Grawameyer Award. He broadened his Jesus Creed project in writing a daily devotional: 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed (Paraclete, 2008). His studies in conversion were expanded with his newest book, Finding Faith, Losing Faith (Baylor, 2008), a book he co-authored with his former student Hauna Ondrey. His most recent books are The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible (Zondervan, 2008) and Fasting (Thomas Nelson, 2009).

Forthcoming books include a commentary on James (Eerdmans, 2010). He is presently researching “gospel” in the earliest Christian communities.

Other books include Who Do My Opponents Say I am? (co-edited with Joseph Modica), Jesus and His Death (Baylor, 2005), A Light among the Gentiles (Fortress, 1992), A New Vision for Israel (Eerdmans, 1999), Turning to Jesus (Westminster John Knox, 2002), Galatians (Zondervan, 1993) and 1 Peter (Zondervan, 1996), Interpreting the Synoptic Gospels (Baker, 1988), and he is a co-editor with J.B. Green and I.H. Marshall of the award-winning The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (IVP, 1992) as well as the co-editor, with J.D.G. Dunn, of The Historical Jesus in Current Study (Eisenbraun’s, 2005). He regularly contributes chapter length studies to dictionaries, encyclopedias, books and articles for magazines and online webzines. McKnight’s books have been translated into Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Portuguese.

McKnight’s award-winning blog, Jesus Creed, has been rated by Technorati.com as the #1 site for Emerging Church and continues to increase in readership.

Scot McKnight was elected into the Hall of Honor at Cornerstone University in honor of his basketball accomplishments during his college career. He and his wife, Kristen, live in Libertyville, Illinois. They enjoy traveling, long walks, gardening, and cooking. They have two adult children, Laura (married to Mark Barringer) and Lukas (married to Annika Nelson), and one grandchild: Aksel Donovan Nelson McKnight.

Scot McKnight is a widely-recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. He is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University (Chicago, Illinois). A popular and witty speaker, Dr. McKnight has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeared on television, and is regularly asked to speak in local churches and educational events throughout the USA and in Denmark and South Africa. Dr. McKnight obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham (1986).

Scot McKnight is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Society for New Testament Studies. He is the author of more than thirty books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others (Paraclete, 2004), which won the Christianity Today book of the year for Christian Living. Recent books include Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us (Paraclete, 2005), The Story of the Christ (Baker, 2006), Praying with the Church (Paraclete, 2006), and The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus (Paraclete, 2007). A recent book, A Community called Atonement (Abingdon, 2007), has been nominated for the Grawameyer Award. He broadened his Jesus Creed project in writing a daily devotional: 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed (Paraclete, 2008). His studies in conversion were expanded with his newest book, Finding Faith, Losing Faith (Baylor, 2008), a book he co-authored with his former student Hauna Ondrey. His most recent books are The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible (Zondervan, 2008) and Fasting (Thomas Nelson, 2009).

Forthcoming books include a commentary on James (Eerdmans, 2010). He is presently researching “gospel” in the earliest Christian communities.

Other books include Who Do My Opponents Say I am? (co-edited with Joseph Modica), Jesus and His Death (Baylor, 2005), A Light among the Gentiles (Fortress, 1992), A New Vision for Israel (Eerdmans, 1999), Turning to Jesus (Westminster John Knox, 2002), Galatians (Zondervan, 1993) and 1 Peter (Zondervan, 1996), Interpreting the Synoptic Gospels (Baker, 1988), and he is a co-editor with J.B. Green and I.H. Marshall of the award-winning The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (IVP, 1992) as well as the co-editor, with J.D.G. Dunn, of The Historical Jesus in Current Study (Eisenbraun’s, 2005). He regularly contributes chapter length studies to dictionaries, encyclopedias, books and articles for magazines and online webzines. McKnight’s books have been translated into Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Portuguese.

McKnight’s award-winning blog, Jesus Creed, has been rated by Technorati.com as the #1 site for Emerging Church and continues to increase in readership.

Scot McKnight was elected into the Hall of Honor at Cornerstone University in honor of his basketball accomplishments during his college career. He and his wife, Kristen, live in Libertyville, Illinois. They enjoy traveling, long walks, gardening, and cooking. They have two adult children, Laura (married to Mark Barringer) and Lukas (married to Annika Nelson), and one grandchild: Aksel Donovan Nelson McKnight.